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NPB’s Kazuma Okamoto, Tatsuya Imai Expected To Be Posted For MLB Teams

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7:34pm: Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes that Okamoto and Imai are indeed both expected to be posted this offseason.

12:24pm: Every offseason, a handful of high-profile players from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization in South Korea either reach true free agency or are made available to MLB teams by way of the posting system. We already know that slugging third baseman Munetaka Murakami (NPB’s Yakult Swallows) and steady right-hander Kona Takahashi (NPB’s Seibu Lions) will be posted this winter. Breakout infielder Sung Mun Song (KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes) is hoping to be posted for big league clubs as well. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports this morning that Yomiuri Giants third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and Seibu Lions righty Tatsuya Imai are also hoping to be posted by their clubs and make the jump to Major League Baseball.

The hope of being posted is notable, but that also does not guarantee either player will be available to North American clubs this winter. Yakyu Cosmopolitan — a terrific source for English-speaking fans with an interest in Japanese baseball — points out that NPB’s Giants are a typically anti-posting club who rarely make their stars available to MLB teams. Okamoto is the Giants’ captain. The Lions are more amenable to posting players, but they’ve already agreed to post Takahashi. Posting two members of their rotation would be difficult, but YC notes that Imai would be a true free agent after the 2026 season. The Lions could lose him for nothing in the 2026-27 offseason anyhow.

Okamoto turned 29 in June. He’s a six-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner who’s thrice led NPB in home runs. He missed more than three months of the current season after injuring his elbow in a collision at first base, but he’s healthy again and is batting .304/.385/.585 with 11 homers, 13 doubles, a triple and nearly as many walks (10.2%) as strikeouts (11.2%) in 196 plate appearances. Okamoto averaged 34 homers per season from 2018-23, “slipped” to 27 last year, and is now homering at the third-best rate of his career (once every 17.8 plate appearances).

Okamoto has been on the radar of MLB scouts for several years now, but if the Giants are going to post him, this will be the time to do it. Like Imai, he’ll have the requisite nine years of service to become a true free agent after the 2026 season. That hasn’t stopped the Yomiuri club from holding onto stars in the past. However, if Okamoto is set on eventually making a move to North America, the Giants’ decision boils down to posting him now and reaping a notable sum via the posting system or allowing him to walk with no compensation next winter.

The right-handed-hitting Okamoto played primarily third base early in his NPB career, but he’s seen significant time at first and has a handful of starts in the outfield corners as well. Okamoto has split his time between the corners this year but was primarily a first baseman in 2024. Sports Info Solutions credited him with the Fielding Bible Award as NPB’s best defender at first base in 2024, and Passan suggests that some MLB teams feel he’s better suited at first than at third.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs agrees, labeling Okamoto as a “likely first-base-only defender” in the majors but crediting his plus power and consistent ability to pull the ball with authority. Longenhagen notes that, as is the case with most NPB hitters, there are questions about Okamoto’s ability to hit big league fastballs. The average NPB fastball is around 91 mph, compared to this year’s 94.4 mph average four-seamer in MLB (via Statcast). Longenhagen writes that Okamoto’s numbers against heaters greater than 94 mph “fall off a cliff.” It’s a valid concern, though the counter is always that a hitter could potentially adapt to better velocity when seeing it more frequently. That uncertainty will be baked into eventual price of a free agent contract if Okamoto is posted.

Even if Okamoto is limited to primarily playing first base, he’s a good defender there by all accounts. He has plus power, improving contact skills and draws plenty of walks. Since settling in as a regular in his age-22 season, Okamoto is a .276/.360/.524 hitter with an average of 39 homers per 162 games played. He currently has a career-low strikeout rate and the second-best ISO (slugging minus batting average) of his career. If he’s posted, there will surely be multi-year interest from MLB clubs.

Imai’s possible addition to the market is arguably even more intriguing, given the heavy price teams are willing to pay for prime-aged pitching. The 5’11” righty won’t turn 28 until next May. He’s in the midst of a career-best season, sporting a comical 1.50 ERA with a 28.8% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate in 143 2/3 innings. Dating back to the 2022 season, Imai boasts a sensational 2.10 earned run average. Passan notes that the right-hander sits 95 mph with his heater and tops out at 99 mph, giving him the sort of power arsenal that’s quite rare in NPB.

An ankle injury held him to nine games back in 2022, but Imai has topped 130 innings in three seasons since and is averaging seven innings per start for a second consecutive season. He’s on pace for back-to-back seasons of more than 170 innings. (Bear in mind that the NPB season is 144 games, not 162 as in MLB, and Japanese pitchers typically only start once per week.) Imai currently ranks seventh in NPB in innings pitched, and the six names ahead of him all have at least one extra start over him. He’s averaged more innings per start than all but one of those pitchers ahead of him on that leaderboard.

Passan writes that he polled more than a dozen scouts and front office executives on the type of contract Imai could command, with estimates ranging from $80MM on the low end to nearly $200MM on the high end. He’ll be three years older than Yoshinobu Yamamoto was when he landed his precedent-setting $325MM contract with the Dodgers but two years younger than Shota Imanaga was when he signed a four-year, $53MM deal that now looks like a bargain for the Cubs (and still will even after Chicago picks up an option to push the deal to $80MM over five years).

If Imai is posted, he’ll join Dustin May and Michael Soroka as free agent starters heading into their age-28 seasons. Imai would have considerably more earning power than either, as big league teams will pay a premium for his power arsenal and the allure of the unknown. Based on Imai’s age, arsenal and recent track record, there’s a chance that he could be the highest-paid pitcher of the entire free agent class this winter — if the Lions eventually choose to make him available.

For those in need of a refresher, the MLB-NPB posting system allows Japanese teams to post their players for all 30 MLB teams at their discretion. Players that are 25 or older and have six-plus years of experience can sign major league contracts for any length and any amount. When a player is posted, that opens a 45-day window for him to negotiate with any and all interested MLB clubs.

When a deal is reached, the MLB team must pay a posting/release fee to the player’s former NPB club. That sum is equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any money thereafter. That sum comes in addition to the contract. Any down-the-road earnings (e.g. club options, performance bonuses, etc.) are also factored in once they become guaranteed. For instance, if Imai were to sign a $125MM contract with an eventual club option for $25MM, his MLB team would owe the Lions an additional $3.75MM (15%) upon exercising that club option.

Sung-Mun Song Hoping To Be Posted For MLB Teams

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KBO infielder Sung-Mun Song could be available for MLB teams this winter. A few weeks ago, he told Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News Agency that he will ask the Kiwoom Heroes to post him after the current season. Yoo notes that MLB teams began scouting him last year. Yoo also published another piece for Yonhap this week wherein Mark Pieper of ISE Baseball, Song’s agency, spoke about the player’s desire to make the move this winter.

Song, 29, is characterized by Yoo as a late bloomer. It’s noted that he didn’t become an everyday player until 2019. He then had his career sidetracked by his military service, which led to him missing the entire 2020 season and part of 2021 as well.

He has since seen a huge uptick in his performance in recent years. Over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he had a combined .253/.311/.366 line and a 85 wRC+. Since the start of 2024, he has a .330/.402/.528 batting line, production which translates to a 146 wRC+. He hit 19 home runs last year and is already up to 24 this season. He also stole 22 bases last year and is at 21 so far in 2025. Defensively, he is primarily a third baseman but has also spend significant time at second and first base.

Song and his representatives feel he is ready for a move to North America. The Heroes don’t have to post him and have actually signed him to a six-year extension, but Yoo notes they have also said they will support him if he wants to make the move to Major League Baseball. Assuming they do eventually post him at some point this winter, that will open up a 30-day posting window where Song can negotiate will all 30 MLB clubs.

If he signs with one of them, the Heroes will be entitled to a posting fee, the size of which would depend upon the specifics of his MLB deal. The fee will be calculated as 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. Additional earnings, such as performance bonuses/incentives or salaries on option years fall under that purview once they are unlocked or exercised.

His market will naturally be dependent on whether or not clubs think he can have success in North American ball. His most recent results are impressive but the track record of success is still fairly short. As a point of comparison, Ha-Seong Kim hit 19 home runs in 2019 and then 30 in 2020, his final two KBO seasons. He had a combined .307/.393/.507 line and 142 wRC+ over those two seasons. That’s fairly similar to Song’s two recent campaigns but Kim also slashed .290/.364/.488 for a 112 wRC+ over the 2015-2018 campaigns. He therefore had a longer track record of decent production and also provided more defensive value as a plus shortstop. Yoo notes that Kim, who also played for the Heroes, had a conversation with Song and convinced him to try the leap to MLB.

Kim secured a four-year, $28MM deal from the Padres ahead of the 2021 season. Arguably, he was a better player at that time compared to Song now, though a few years of inflation could work in Song’s favor. This winter’s third base market will likely be headlined by Alex Bregman, assuming he opts out of his deal with the Red Sox, and Eugenio Suárez. At second, Gleyber Torres should be the main attraction. Teams looking for help at first base will likely be looking at Pete Alonso, who can opt out of his Mets deal, as well as Luis Arráez, Josh Naylor, Rhys Hoskins, Ryan O’Hearn and others.

Song will be more affordable than many of the guys in that group, even with the posting fee, though he will also come with the natural uncertainty surrounding a player with no previous major league experience.

Photo courtesy of Evan Habeeb, Imagn Images

Baek-Ho Kang Planning To Pursue MLB Opportunities

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Korean utility player Baek-Ho Kang has hired Paragon Sports to represent him as he plans to pursue major league opportunities, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Heyman adds that Kang will be a full free agent, not subject to the posting system.

Kang just turned 26 at the end of July. Despite his young age, he is currently in his eighth season with the KT Wiz of Korea’s KBO League. Kang debuted way back in 2018 when he was just 18 years old.

He has some good seasons under his belt, though his earlier campaigns were stronger than his more recent ones. From 2018 to 2021, he got into at least 116 games each season and stepped to the plate at least 505 times. He hit 81 home runs over that span while producing a combined .325/.408/.521 line and 145 wRC+. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 2018 and was an All-Star from 2018 to 2020.

Since then, his work has declined in both quality and quantity. Per his scouting report on The Board at FanGraphs, he “broke his toe falling down a flight of stairs before the 2022 season started, then partially tore his hamstring just a few weeks after he returned. A bout with anxiety shelved him for a month in 2023, and his season ended with an oblique tear.”

In 2022, he only got into 62 games and slashed .245/.312/.371 for a wRC+ of 86. Since then, he’s been an above-average hitter but not to his previous level. Over the 2023-25 seasons, he has a combined .276/.353/.456 line and 114 wRC+. He only got into 71 contests in 2023. He got that up to 144 last year but has only appeared in 62 games so far this year. He hit 26 home runs last year but his .289 batting average and .360 on-base percentage weren’t up to his previous level.

Perhaps MLB clubs will have differing opinions on whether Kang can get back to that higher level or not. Earlier in his career, when he was showing 20-30 home run power along with strong on-base numbers, his production was somewhat analogous to Ha-Seong Kim’s KBO years. Kim hit between 19 and 30 home runs in his final six KBO seasons. In his last two, 2019 and 2020, he slashed .307/.393/.507 for a 142 wRC+.

Kim was able to parlay that into a four-year, $28MM deal and become an effective big leaguer. He didn’t do much in 2021 but was a solid player for the next three years. From 2022 to 2024, he slashed .250/.336/.385 for a 106 wRC+ while stealing 72 bases and providing strong glovework at multiple positions. He hasn’t been in good form in 2025, though he may still be getting into game shape after recovering from shoulder surgery.

Kang won’t be as appealing as Kim in terms of his glovework, though he does provide some defensive versatility. Kang has played first base, the outfield corners and a bit at the catcher position as well.

Interest from affiliated clubs likely depends on whether they think his bat can play against MLB pitching. In October of last year, it was reported that a status check was tendered on Kang. An MLB club is required to tender a status check when interested in a KBO player, so that means at least one club was curious about Kang last winter. It was reported at that time that Kang was not interested in making an MLB move but that has apparently changed now that he’s approaching free agency.

Vince Velasquez To Sign With KBO’s Lotte Giants

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The Guardians announced this morning that right-hander Vince Velasquez will sign with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization for the remainder of the season. Velasquez has been pitching with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate. His contract is being sold to the Giants, who’ll send cash back to Cleveland. Velasquez and his agents at CAA have surely negotiated a deal with the Giants that’ll pay the right-hander more than he’d have received by playing out the remainder of his minor league deal with the Guardians.

Velasquez, 33, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023. The Guardians selected his contract to the big league roster back in late April, but he was designated for assignment a few days later before ever getting into a game. He could’ve rejected the subsequent outright assignment after he cleared waivers, but he opted to remain with the organization.

In 81 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year, Velasquez has pitched to a 3.42 ERA with a strong 26.8% strikeout rate but an ugly 14.1% walk rate. Velasquez has averaged fewer than 4 2/3 innings per start, though some of that workload was limited by design. The right-hander had elbow surgery back in June 2023 and missed all of the 2024 season as a result. Cleveland didn’t push him past 4 1/3 innings in an outing until late May. Velasquez still isn’t regularly working deep into games, but he’s pitched into the sixth inning in seven of his past 12 starts and averaged five frames per start along the way.

Selected by the Astros with the 58th overall draft pick back in 2010, Velasquez has pitched in parts of nine major league seasons. He’s totaled 763 2/3 innings with a 4.88 earned run average, 24.9% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in that time.

In 2025, Velasquez has gotten stronger as the season has worn on (3.17 ERA over his past 12 starts). He’s sitting 92.5 mph with his fastball — down a couple miles from his peak levels — and complementing that four-seamer with a slider, knuckle curve, changeup and sinker (in order of usage rate).

To make room for Velasquez, the Giants are slated to waive left-hander Tucker Davidson, per a report from the Chosun Ilbo (a South Korean news outlet). Davidson has pitched to a 3.65 ERA on the season, including six innings of one-run ball last night in his tenth win of the season. The team had concerns about Davidson’s lack of consistency, per the report, and opted to make a change before the KBO’s Aug. 15 postseason eligibility deadline for foreign signees (hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO).

Davidson, 29, has pitched in parts of five major league seasons between the Braves, Angels and Orioles. The lefty once ranked as one of the more promising arms in Atlanta’s system but has totaled 129 2/3 innings with a rocky 5.76 ERA in the majors.

KBO’s KT Wiz Sign Andrew Stevenson

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Former big league outfielder Andrew Stevenson has signed with the KT Wiz of the KBO league, as noted by Jee-Ho Yoo of Yonhap News. Stevenson will make $200K for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Stevenson, 31, was a second-round pick by the Nationals back in 2015. He made his big league debut during the 2017 season and served as an up-and-down fill-in outfielder for the club for several years. From 2017 to 2020, Stevenson appeared in 139 MLB games and slashed .266/.348/.389 with a wRC+ of 96. He struck out at an elevated 27.5% clip, but walked 10.2% of the time as well with 17 extra-base hits in 236 plate appearances. That decent bat, in conjunction with Stevenson’s ability to play all three outfield spots, made him a perfectly solid bench contributor for the Nationals over the years.

He took on a larger role during the 2021 season, but his numbers took a substantial step back when he did so. Across 109 games and 213 plate appearances that year, Stevenson hit a paltry .229/.294/.339 with a wRC+ of just 70. While he slugged a career-high five homers, his overall power numbers dropped. What’s worse, his strikeout rate ticked up to 28.6% while is walk rate plummeted to just 6.1%. Stevenson’s expected numbers were slightly better than his actual production that year, but he was still clearly a below-average bat overall. He remained with the Nats headed into the 2022 season but was outrighted to the minor leagues early in the year and spent the entire season at Triple-A before electing free agency that November.

Since then, Stevenson has caught on with the Twins, for whom he made a 25-game cameo in 2023 to lackluster results, and then headed overseas to play for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan’s NPB. His time with the Fighters generally went quite poorly, however, and he returned to North America in 2025. He’s split the 2025 campaign between the Mexican League’s Piratas de Campeche and the Triple-A affiliate of the Rays in Durham while posting excellent numbers for both clubs.

Those numbers clearly seem to have gotten the attention of the Wiz in South Korea. He’ll now head overseas once again in hopes of following in the footsteps of former big leaguers who made names for themselves in the KBO league like Matt Davidson and Guillermo Heredia. The KBO places strict limits on the number of foreign-born players a team can roster, making those handful of available roster spots fairly competitive. Former Pirates prospect (and son of longtime Expos reliever Mel Rojas) Mel Rojas Jr. was released from the Wiz’s roster in order to make room for the addition of Stevenson. Rojas is a former KBO league MVP, but has struggled somewhat in his age-35 campaign with a pedestrian .239/.333/.426 slash line.

KBO League’s KT Wiz Sign Patrick Murphy, Release William Cuevas

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The KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that they have signed right-hander Patrick Murphy to a deal worth $277K.  Right-hander William Cuevas was released in the corresponding move to open up an international roster spot.  (Hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net.)

Murphy had been pitching for the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, but he was released from his minor league contract earlier this week, likely with this KBO deal already lined up.  This is the second time Murphy has headed overseas to pitch, as he had a 3.26 ERA over 38 2/3 innings in Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2024.  He followed that performance up with a return to North America and a 3.18 ERA in 22 2/3 frames with Triple-A Round Rock, though with a 16.8% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate providing some less-inspiring peripherals.

With a promotion to the big leagues not looking too likely, the 30-year-old Murphy will now instead to South Korea for another chapter in a pro career that began as a third-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2013 draft.  Murphy’s MLB career has consisted of 39 2/3 innings with the Jays and Nationals from 2020-22, and the grounder specialist has a 4.76 ERA to show for his time in the majors.  Since his last appearance in the Show, Murphy has also pitched in the Twins’ minor league system on top of his stints in NPB and with the Rangers.

Cuevas is another former big leaguer who posted an 8.06 ERA in 22 1/3 innings with the Red Sox and Tigers during the 2016-18 seasons.  He has since carved out a long career with the Wiz, including a championship ring in 2021 for the first Korean Series victory in franchise history.  Cuevas has a 3.93 ERA in 872 1/3 innings over parts of seven KBO League seasons, but a 5.40 ERA in 98 1/3 frames this season saw the 34-year-old fall out of the Wiz’s plans.  In between his two stints with the Wiz, Cuevas played in the Mexican League in 2022 and with the Dodgers’ Triple-A club in 2023.

Dan Straily Announces Retirement

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Eight-year MLB veteran Dan Straily has announced his retirement, as relayed by Codify Baseball on social media. Straily pitched for the A’s, Cubs, Astros, Reds, Marlins, and Orioles in his MLB career.

Straily, 36, was a 24th-round pick by the A’s back in 2009. He made his big league debut a few years later during the 2012 season and provided league average results for Oakland down the stretch, with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts despite allowing 11 homers in those seven outings. He returned to the Athletics rotation for the 2013 season and was now able to post league average results with matching peripherals as he pitched to a 3.96 ERA (98 ERA+) with a 4.05 FIP across 152 2/3 innings and 27 starts. That performance was impressive enough to earn Straily a fourth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting that year behind Wil Myers, Jose Iglesias, and Chris Archer.

In 2014, Straily struggled a bit in seven early-season starts with the A’s and was optioned to Triple-A. That changed when Straily was traded to the Cubs alongside top prospects Addison Russell and Billy McKinney for Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Straily made a few appearances with Chicago, but they weren’t productive outings. The Cubs saw fit to move on from Straily following the 2014 campaign, and during the offseason he was flipped to the Astros alongside Luis Valbuena in the deal that sent Dexter Fowler to Chicago. Straily once again spent much of the 2015 season in the minors, making just four appearances in the majors for Houston while pitching to a 5.40 ERA in those outings.

Straily was traded for a third time in early 2016, when he was dealt by the Astros to the Padres for Erik Kratz. San Diego promptly designated Straily for assignment, but was plucked off waivers by the Reds and managed to stick in the big leagues with Cincinnati. The righty had arguably the best season of his career with the Reds as he pitched to a 3.76 ERA in a career-high 191 1/3 innings of work. While Straily’s home run rate held back his peripherals (4.88 FIP), he was the exact sort of reliable, innings-eating arm a rebuilding club like the Reds needed.

The fourth trade of Straily’s career came after his strong 2016 season, when the Marlins sought to acquire some rotation depth and surrendered a package of talent headlined by eventual Reds ace Luis Castillo to acquire him. Straily pitched two seasons at the back of Miami’s rotation, with a 4.20 ERA and 4.79 FIP across 304 innings of work. He was released by Miami shortly before Opening Day 2019 and latched on with the Orioles, for whom he struggled to provide results across 47 2/3 innings before being designated for assignment in June of that year.

Straily’s stint with the Orioles was the end of his time in the majors, but it was by no means the end of his professional career as a player. The righty went overseas to the KBO League and went on to make 89 starts for the Lotte Giants with a 3.29 ERA in 503 innings of work from 2020 to 2023. He made brief stateside returns in 2022 and ’24 with the Diamondbacks and Cubs, but was unable to crack the big league roster with either club. Straily wrapped up his pro career with 32 innings of work for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the independent Mexican League this year, and exits baseball with a lifetime 4.19 ERA across 2351 1/3 innings of work between the major, minor, and foreign leagues he participated in. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Straily on a fine career and wish him all the best in his post-playing pursuits.

KBO’s Samsung Lions Sign Gerson Garabito

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The Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization announced the signing of right-hander Gerson Garabito (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). Texas released Garabito last week, which Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reported at the time was to facilitate his signing in the KBO. The Lions recently released righty Denyi Reyes, who suffered a stress reaction in his right foot (link via Yonhap’s Jeeho Yoo).

Garabito, 29, worked in low-leverage relief for Texas over the past two seasons. He combined for a 5.77 earned run average through 34 1/3 innings. The 6’0″ righty was also hit hard this year at Triple-A Round Rock. Garabito allowed an 8.53 ERA while averaging just over three innings across 10 starts. There’s very little in this season’s production to find encouraging, but he managed a 3.42 ERA across 55 1/3 Triple-A frames a year ago.

Reyes’ tenure in Korea comes to a disappointing end. The 28-year-old pitched fairly well for the Lions in 2024, working to a 3.81 ERA across 26 starts. That was up slightly over 10 starts this year before he suffered the foot injury. He’s a free agent and might look for a minor league opportunity to return to affiliated ball. Reyes made 12 MLB appearances with the Orioles and Mets between 2022-23.

KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes Sign Stone Garrett

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The Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League have signed outfielder Stone Garrett.  Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News writes that Garrett will make roughly $35K on a short-term contract, as Garrett is joining the Heroes as an injury replacement for fellow outfielder Ruben Cardenas.  A right flexor injury will sideline Cardenas for roughly the next six weeks, which provides some idea as to the eventual length of Garrett’s stay with the South Korean team.

This isn’t Garrett’s first trip overseas, as he played 39 games with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2016-17 Australian Baseball League season.  It was an excursion during Garrett’s time in the Marlins’ farm system, though it wasn’t until he joined the Diamondbacks as a minor league free agent in 2021 did Garrett get onto a path to the majors.  He made his MLB debut with Arizona in 2022, then received semi-regular action with the Nationals in 2023 before appearing in just two big league games with the Nats last season.

Garrett has hit .276/.341/.492 over 361 plate appearances in the Show, though a whopping .369 BABIP and a 30.2% strikeout rate undermine what is a very impressive set of bottom-line numbers.  Most (271) of Garrett’s 361 career playing time came with Washington in 2023, but that season ended in late August after Garrett broke his left ankle and fractured his left fibula after crashing into the outfield wall in pursuit of a home run.

Understandably, Garrett hasn’t looked quite in the same in the aftermath of such a major injury.  He hit .249/.348/.333 over 302 combined PA with the Nationals’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2024, and he was hitting only .087/.176/.130 in his first 51 trips to the plate with Triple-A Rochester this season when the Nats released Garrett in late April.  According to Yoo, Garrett was on the verge of signing with a Mexican League team before joining the Heroes.

Though Garrett might only be a fill-in for Cardenas, a quality stint in the KBO League could get Garrett’s career back on track, and perhaps line him up for another contract in either a foreign league or with an MLB organization.  Garrett is still just 29 years old and he has two years of minor league options remaining, so that status might draw some particular interest from big league clubs looking for roster flexibility.

Jiman Choi To Begin South Korean Military Service; Eyes KBO Debut In 2027

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Former big league first baseman Jiman Choi is returning to his home country of South Korea to begin 21 months of mandatory military service, according to a report from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The eight-year MLB veteran hopes to continue his playing career with the Korea Baseball Organization in 2027, once he has completed that conscripted service.

Since 1957, male citizens of South Korea between the ages of 18 and 35 have been required to complete between 18 and 21 months of military service. Topkin notes that the soon-to-be 34-year-old veteran was able to delay his military service until the age of 37 due to his status as a legal permanent resident of the United States. This status allowed Choi to sign with the Mariners back in 2010 and begin a baseball career stateside. Choi made his MLB debut during the 2016 season as a member of the Angels and briefly appeared for the Yankees and Brewers before arriving in Tampa and breaking out with the Rays during the 2018 season.

Choi was a quality piece for the Rays across his five seasons with the club, slashing .245/.352/.431 (120 wRC+) in 414 games with the organization. Among players with at least a full season of playing time in Tampa during Choi’s time with the club, that wRC+ ranks sixth behind only Tommy Pham, Brandon Lowe, Randy Arozarena, Yandy Diaz, and Austin Meadows. Choi’s time with the Rays coincided with four years of the club’s five-season stretch of consecutive postseason appearances, and his performance in 29 playoff games for those clubs was very impressive. Choi slashed .221/.398/.412 in the playoffs with the Rays overall, including a .250/.412/.425 slash line during the team’s run to the World Series in 2020.

Choi was traded to the Pirates in November of 2022 and split his 2023 campaign between Pittsburgh and San Diego. Unfortunately, the then-32-year-old veteran struggled to a lackluster .163/.239/.385 slash line that year while being limited to just 39 games by injuries. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets prior to the 2024 campaign but was once again hampered by injuries and eventually departed the organization in June of last year. Choi has not played in affiliated ball since, and now he’s set to leave MLB behind.

While Choi has his eyes on participating in his home country’s KBO league to continue his playing career, there will be obstacles to that goal. The first is his aforementioned military service. Topkin notes that Choi is set to have a non-combat role (rather than serving in the active South Korean military) and will be able to continue baseball workouts and training when not working, but it’s worth noting that the veteran will be 36 years old when he’s first eligible to suit up for a KBO team.

Also, Choi won’t be a free agent as he enters the KBO, since he is still restricted by the league’s draft rules. It’s unclear whether a KBO team will have interest in drafting a slugger in his mid-thirties with a lengthy injury history, but it is worth noting that former big leaguers like Shin-Soo Choo and Hyun Jin Ryu have gone to the KBO after their MLB careers and played into their late 30s and early 40s. Across the KBO league’s 10 teams this year, 35 players are playing in their age-36 season or older, giving some reason for optimism that Choi will be able to leverage his pedigree of MLB success into a role with the league two years from now.

Regardless of what happens with the future of his playing career in South Korea, Choi departs MLB a lifetime .234/.338/.426 hitter across 525 games in the majors. MLBTR congratulates Choi on a fine MLB career and wishes him all the best in his upcoming service, eventual return to his playing career, and any additional future endeavors.

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